Poll tax research

Margaret Thatcher's Poll tax  

 Poll tax was intended to replace the previous system of taxing utilized by the UK government. In short, the system we currently have, council tax, is loosely connected to the value of a person's home with the larger or more expensive house paying more. Poll tax works by placing a fixed charge on per person based on those who use the most social services pay the most. Very in tune with Thatcher's love of Reaganomics. Little did she know that the poll tax would lead to her forced resignation after her cabinet ministers turned on her. 

John Major, the PM, repealed the poll tax and replaced it with the Council tax. Mainly because of the civil rest the Poll Tax caused with things like the poll tax riots. 

The Poll Tax riots  

The poll tax riots were obviously a result of the implementation of the poll tax by mainly Margaret Thatcher with most of her cabinets members advising against the tax.  While that was a main reason for the poll tax riots years of anti-working-class Policies implemented by a Thatcher government with anti-worker practices like union busting being common. This is not the first time that a Thatcher policy had led to civil unrest in her term, like the Toxteth riots in 81 for example sparked by a conflict with police and lead to Thatcher's cabinet urging her to abandon Liverpool. 

After years of these anti-worker policies or controversies created constant tension between the Thatcher government and the working class eventually leading to the Poll tax riots.